


Ruby Eyed

by useyourlove



Category: Slayers (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Post-Canon, post-novel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 04:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2177703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/useyourlove/pseuds/useyourlove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lina is haunted by the loss of friends and a growing suspicion about herself. Set Post-Novels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ruby Eyed

**Author's Note:**

> I had three different fic ideas and ended up sort of combining them into this one. Takes place at some vague time fairly recently after Novel 15. If you haven't had a chance to read the second light novel arc, you can find translations [here](http://ceiphiedknightandbanditsplight.wordpress.com/). Do enjoy!

Lina jerked awake with a gasp, the cool air tearing through the burn in the back of her throat, spreading through her chest, dragging her into consciousness. Her cheeks were stinging. She sat up and swiped at them with the back of her thumb, feeling wetness. Shit.

She and Gourry were out on the road, sleeping in the open. It was nice to be able to breathe, after everything. Good to be moving again. She always did have restless feet. She loved to wander. Hell, at this point she hardly knew anything else. It made her feel better to _go_. But whenever they stopped, at night, when she closed her eyes, she could still see Luke, his bright red hair at the end, his dark red eyes. So very like hers, really. That niggled at her. But still Luke. Still himself even under all that anger. Still so hard to kill, for more reasons than just how damn powerful he was.

Her hands were shaking, and she sucked in another deep breath. The night was still. She blew a puff of air out of her nose, snorting a derisive laugh. She never realized what people meant to her until they were gone--until they were threatened, or taken away, or driven mad. Until they forced her to...

Gourry's large warm hand rested on her shoulder. She hadn't heard him stir. "Oh," she said softly, hastily swiping at her eyes, sucking the snot back into her nose, trying to be presentable. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

He was still lying on his side, his stupid huge arm long enough to reach her in the dark. The moon only shone as a sliver tonight, the stars picked out against the sky like brilliant pinholes. He had laid down beside her when they made camp and she hadn't bothered to object. Hadn't said anything actually. Had only turned over and desperately wished for a silent dreamless sleep.

Gourry didn't say anything, but his hand tugged at her. She pulled back briefly, confused, trying to catch a glimpse of his face in the darkness, but she couldn't. She finally let him pull her down. He settled her with her back against him, her body rigid at first as he swept her hair out of the way, draping it over her neck and shoulder as he rested her head on his outstretched arm. He curled his legs up, fitting himself around her body, his free arm wrapping securely in her waist and she didn't protest. Her heart raced and she reminded herself to breathe. Maybe _this_ was why he was so damn big. So impossibly and ridiculously huge. They made a striking pair, on the road, she guessed. But he fit around her like this as if that was what he was made for. She relaxed against him, his warm breath tickling her neck.

"Do you have them often?" he said softly.

"What?"

"The nightmares. Do they bother you often?"

She closed her eyes; let herself feel safe. Not an easy task, lately, but he made it simple. "Every night. Every time I close my eyes. They didn't used to be this bad."

"About Luke?"

"And Milina, too. And... other things." She couldn't bring herself to mention the other things. Her own fears. Her suspicions. And, sometimes, the things that had happened to Gourry a long time ago. She had her own personal store of nightmare fuel, just waiting for her when she closed her eyes. Strange the things she used to be able to live with that haunted her now.

"We did all we could do," he said into her ear. "You did your best."

"Did I? I killed my friend."

"You saved the world. You saved him too, I think. He asked you to. You said he let you."

"Gourry, what if--" she cut herself off.

"Tell me," he said, his sturdy solid arm applying the slightest pressure to her midriff. He brought his other hand up--the bicep she was using as a pillow flexing beneath her cheek--and toyed delicately with a piece of hair at the front of her head.

"What if the reason I'm so... so powerful... these things are so drawn to me. What if _I've_ got a piece of Shabranigdu... what if part of him is in me?"

"So?"

"So!? Gourry!"

"No, well, I mean. Shabranigdu--he's the head mazoku thingy right?"

"More than I expected _you_ to remember," but she knew he was pretending not to know just to put her at ease. He was sharper than he looked. Sort of like the Blast Sword. He had to have noticed the libraries they'd stopped at. The half-frantic research into souls and shards and magical containment. He wasn't totally oblivious. What kind of luck would that be--one sister the Knight of Ceifeed and the other Shabranigdu reborn? It just made twisted sense.

"I just mean, the times we've fought him," Gourry continued, "it's because the person he was in hated the world so much. Was so bitter and angry. Hopeless, you know?"

"Yeah...?" she said, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, the way you say it, he's been reborn thousands of times without anyone trying to destroy the world until something really really bad like that happens."

"Yeah..."

"And then we're there when it does. And we always stop him."

"By the skin of our teeth," she said bitterly, uneasily.

"But we do. And so, I figure, even if there's a piece of that power in you--well, everything will be all right."

"'You figure' huh?"

"Of course," he curled around her more tightly, his thigh forcing its way between her drawn up knees, her sex pressed hard against his leg. Her breath caught. She was sure she felt his member against her back, but he didn't make any further move. Just held her. Just nuzzled his nose against her hair. "You've got me," Gourry said, "and I'd never let you get like that. So I figure, we're safe, even if it's true. Or, safe as we can be what with you being a mazoku magnet and all."

"Gourry!" she swung her elbow back in indignation, but missed his gut when he deftly jerked out of the way.

"And if that's so," he continued with a chuckle in his voice, settling back in against her, "I know someone in desperate need of a permanent protector."

His words were like a lance through her heart. Was it a lance of ice or fire? By the warmth spreading through her chest it must be fire.

"Good thing I've got the best," she said so softly she wondered if he heard her. Maybe it would be better if he didn't....

She felt his lips, pressing just behind her ear. "Get some rest," he said, the tip of his nose brushing her earlobe. She shivered but let herself relax again. She felt the tension draining out of her shoulders, her jaw unclenching. "I'll be here all night, and when you wake up in the morning."

Lina closed her eyes and slept while Gourry kept the fears away.


End file.
